Smoothies, slushes, and related chilled or icy products are enjoyed by consumers worldwide. Generally, these products are made using one of two popular methods. In the first method, pellets or cubes of ice may be added to a mixture of other ingredients and then blended in a blending jar using a blending blade. This process breaks up the ice into smaller, smoother granules and thoroughly mixes all of the ingredients into a smoothie consistency that is based primarily on variables within the control of the operator, such as the properties of the ingredients and ice and the blending mode and duration.
Due to the strain on the blender, consistently blending hard ingredients including ice and frozen fruit requires high-performance, expensive blending equipment. In some cases, the product is prepared in the blender using pumps, wherein at least portions of the product are pumped into a blending chamber, combined with ice, and then blended before being dispensed to a customer's cup. These devices require tubing and pumps for fresh ingredient supply and to drain out the chamber after blending, thereby increasing the blending apparatus's cost, complexity, and difficulty to maintain and clean. In a commercial setting, this method of preparation also has the drawback of requiring time to measure and blend ingredients for each batch of product when the product is ordered, especially since the consistency of the product quickly deteriorates as the blended ice melts. Thus, new batches of smoothies or slushes have to be made to order with a delay and wait time between ordering the product and serving the customer. Some machines use refrigeration for non-shelf-stable product, but they are accordingly even more expensive.
The other popular method of preparing and serving slushes and smoothies does not require adding ice into other ingredients. In this method, all ingredients are added to a slush machine (e.g., a granita machine) in liquid form, and the product is chilled and agitated in a hopper. Over time, the product is chilled by contact with refrigerated surfaces in the hopper, and ice crystals form in the liquid. Meanwhile, the product is circulated through the hopper by a mixer (e.g., an auger) and the ice is thereby inhibited from forming large blocks and is distributed throughout the liquid in the hopper. To prevent the ice from growing too large over time, the temperature in the hopper is periodically (e.g., nightly) elevated to allow the ice to completely melt, and the process starts over again when the temperature is dropped to an ice-forming level again.
The slushy product can be dispensed from one of these machines on demand, but the ice crystals formed by this method have inconsistent size and are generally substantially larger than the crystals made by the blending machines of the first method described above. Thus, the consistency of the product is not as smooth as the product from a blending machine. The texture and flavor are widely regarded as being inferior as well. The machines still remain popular, however, because they are usually easier to purchase and maintain than the complex blending devices of the first method.
In view of the above, there is a need for improvements in the methods and apparatuses used to prepare and dispense high quality chilled products.